Machine for severing coiled material



Sept. 10, 1968 E. RETH ET AL MACHINE FOR SEVERING COILED MATERIAL Filed Jan. 20, 1966 United States Patent '0 3,400,623 MACHINE FOR SEVERING COILED MATERIAL Erich Reth, Duisburg-Buchholz, and Werner Colditz,

Duisburg, Germany, assignors to Demag Aktiengesellschaft, Duisburg, Germany Filed Jan. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 521,985 Claims priority, application Germany, Jan. 26, 1965, D 6,357 4 Claims. (Cl. 83-356) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for subdividing a coiled wire into individual lengths includes means for feeding a coiled wire downwardly past one or more cutters arranged at right angles to the feed direction. A guiding lever is associated with each cutter and its sweeps through a path to intercept a coil of wire and to guide it into association with this cutter. The guiding means also includes two carriage members which are disposed adjacent the cutters and are movable toward and away from each other. When the carriages are at their innermost position they define a gap therebetween which permits the passage of wire therethrough to facilitate orienting the wire in respect to the cutter.

Thisinvention relates in general to wire cutting devices and in particular to a new and useful device for subdiving winding material for the purpose of forming a wound wire into combined lashings separated from a remaining continuous formed wire.

The present invention has particular application for use in association with a device for processing newly formed coils of wire in order to form individual windings of selected amounts and to separate these windings from the remaining formed wire. For the cutting of wire from a continuous strand thereof it has been known to provide means such as movable fingers for separating the successive windings in order to insure that the cutting means only cuts through a single coil. It has also been known to provide shears which are associated with a winding basket or shaft element and which are mounted on a movable carriage adjacent a funnel-shaped feeler ahead of fl1e mouth of the shears. Neither of these two arrangements or a combination thereof is sufiicient for insuring the reliable engagement of a winding coil of wire when there is a possibility that a loop of material can be found at any point adjacent the cross section of the lashing which is being formed of the wire. With the movable cutter there is no certainty that the cutter would be moved to a precise location at which it would insure engagement of the loop. It can also be readily seen that a loop will jump during the lowering of the preceding lashing through the spring action of the winding into an extreme zone of the space or even through recesses in the covering so that it would be inaccessible to the cutter.

In accordance with the invention there is provided cutting means for cutting a continuous coiled wire from a lashing or stack formation from the coils of wire which includes one or more severing devices which are arranged in the path of movement of the coils from the unlashed condition into the lashed condition, and with guiding means associated with the cutter for picking up the loop at any location at which it may appear around the periphery of the lashing and for directing it into association with the cutter. In a preferred arrangement, two separate cutters are employed, preferably at diametrically opposite locations, and lever members are associated with the cutters and moved through an arc to engage a coil or loop of the wire which is located adjacent the cutter with which the lever members are associated. The lever then guides the coiled loop inwardly toward the cutter until the cutting takes place. The two arms advantageously swing through arcs which cover the entire shaft cross section or diameter of the coiled wire as it is being fed into the lashing or stack. The cutters are advantageously stationary severing devices which require no drag lines or other special connections in order to permit them to move. Because they are stationary, there is no danger that they will become entangled with the connecting portions or with the lashing head being formed. A further advantage is that since the cutter does not move, there is only a small moving mass which is required for directing the coils into the associated cutter.

In a preferred arrangement, two levers are mounted either in the same or two dilferent planes directly below a shaft for initially forming a series of windings of the coils and for then feeding them downwardly over a mandrel for stacking purposes or for the formation of the lashings. The levers are advantageously pivotally mounted so that each arm portion will sweep across a half portion of the feeding shaft for the coils of wire and insure that one portion of the loop of wire which is being fed downwardly below the shaft will be engaged by the arm and directed into a cutter.

The shaft for forming the initial series of windings advantageously includes bottom members which may be separated centrally to permit the formed windings to fall downwardly through a plane which is occupied by the cutters. The ope-ration of the means for directing or guiding the windings into the associated cutters may be effected in accordance with the openings of the bottom of the shaft for initiating the falling of the wires therethrough or for the closing of the bottom of the shaft after the selected group of windings has already been directed downwardly to the last forming means located therebe'low.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide improved means for severing wires which are formed into windings which includes means for directing the wire windings through a plane having means for guiding a winding into association with its stationary cutter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device for guiding a coil of wire into association with one or more cutting elements for the purpose of insuring that a coiled length of wire will not move past the cutting elements without being severed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cutting device particularly for use for the separating of a continuous wound formation of wire into individual lashings which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial axial sectional view of a cutting and lashing mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial view similar to FIG. 1 taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device indicated in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein comprises a device for cutting wire cable 1 away from a continuous length thereof and after it has been formed into a lashing or vertical stack 9. The device includes a stacking frame 7 having mandrel 8 therein around which the wire is formed into the lashings.

During the time the wire is formed into lashings 9, a pair of movable carriages 4 and 5 are arranged in an open position, that is, moved outwardly on a guide wave 20 from the position indicated in FIG. 2. In the position indicated in FIG. 2, the carriages 4 and 5 are moved to- Word each other and to a closing position by actuation of a fluid cylinder which acts through linkages 11, 12 and 13 to effect the closing. This divides the winding coil 1 between the continuous lengths shown at the top of FIG. 1 and the lashing 9 having the connecting part la therebetween. In the fully closed position the carriages 4 and 5 define a gap 16 through which the coil from the continuous winding 1 to the lashing 9 is fed.

In accordance with the invention, guiding means are provided in addition to the carriages 4 and 5 for directing the connecting length 1a into association with one of two cutters 22, 22 which are arranged at diametrically opposite sides of the top of the shaft 7. The guiding means includes levers 2a and 2b which are pivotally mounted at the spaced pivot locations 3, 3 so that they may be moved through an are indicated 30 in FIG. 3. The arcs made by the two levers 2a and 2b are such that substantially their entire diameters of the coiled wire will be intercepted by the movement of the arms and the coil will be picked up regardless of its location and directed into association with one of the cutters 22, 22 depending upon which arm picks up the coil. Means 18 which rolls over rollers carried on the inner ends of the arms Provided means for directing the arm outwardly against the force of a spring 19 which spring also acts to return the arm to the original position, that is, at a location removed from the associated cutter.

The position of the levers 2a and 2b determine the operation of the shears 22 through an actuating mechanism (not shown). The actuating mechanism is effective when the lever 2a or 2b is moving toward its associated cutter to move a plunger member 24 rearwardly (to the left indicated in FIG. 1) to move lever arms 22a in -a similar direction and to open cutter jaws 22b which move outwardly against the force of holding springs 220 indicated in dotted lines. Movement of the member 24 in an opposite direction to the right indicated in FIG. 1 permits closing of the jaws 22b under the force of the associated spring 220 and the cutting of the wire.

The levers 2a and 2b are advantageously curved so that they introduce the coiled loop 1a into one of the shears 22. The form of curvature depends particularly on the angle of advertence and on the number of levers employed and it can comprise an angle of greater than 90.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for subdividing winding materials such as coiled wire, comprising a plurality of fixed cutters located in a plane extending across the axis of the coil thereof, and guiding means located in the plane extending across the axis of said wire and movable through a path to intercept a coil of wire regardless of the circumferential location thereof and to direct it into association with a respective cutter, said guiding means including a pivotal lever associated with each cutter, each pivotal lever being movable through an are covering a diameter of the winding of said wire to guide the wire to an associated cutter, and spring means for returning said levers to an initial position.

2. A device for subdividing winding materials such as coiled wire comprising at least one fixed cutter located in a plane extending across the axis of the coil thereof, and guiding means located in the plane extending across the axis of said wire and movable through a path to intercept a coil of wire regardless of the circumferential location thereof and to direct it into association with the cutter for cutting, means for feeding the coiled wire downwardly for forming a lashing thereof, said guiding means being located in a path between said feeding means and said lashing and including at least two pivotal levers movable through arcs covering substantially the diameter of the winding of said wire, and spring means for returning said levers to an initial position, an additional cutter located diametrically opposite said fixed cutter, said fixed cutter and said additional cutter being arranged at respective opposite sides of said wire windings and at least one lever being associated with each of said fixed cutter and said additional cutter for sweeping a path perpendicular to the axis of the winding to intercept a coil of the wire and to deflect it into the associated cutter.

3. A device for subdividing winding materials such as coiled wire comprising at least one fixed cutter located in a plane extending across the axis of the coil thereof, and guiding means located in the plane extending across the axis of said wire and movable through a path to intercept a coil of wire regardless of the circumferential location thereof and to direct it into association with the cutter for cutting, said guiding means including first and second carriage members disposed adjacent said cutter and being movable toward and away from each other, said carriages when being moved to their innermost position toward each other defining a gap for the passage of wire therethrough for orienting said wire in respect to said cutter.

4. A device for subdividing winding materials such as coiled wire, comprising a plurality of fixed cutters located in a plane extending across the axis of the coil of wire, and guiding means located in the plane extending across the axis of the coil of Wire and movable through a path to intercept a coil of wire regardless of its circumferential location and to direct it into association with an associated cutter for cutting, said guiding means including a pivotal lever associated with each of said cutters and movable through a plane perpendicular to the axis of the wire, said guiding levers being offset axially along said wire.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,532,739 12/1950 Slusher 83-175 2,674,414 4/1954 Hicks et al 83-566 X 3,176,385 4/1965 Morgan et al.

ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner. 

